10 Facts You Never Knew About The Netherlands HD

Subscribe for more irregular Fact Stories or Compilations IrregularFacts Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IrregularFacts/ IrregularFacts Twitter: https://twitter.com/IF_Facts Credits: Speech in text: #1 – Coffee The Dutch people consume around 150 liters of coffee per year, making them the biggest coffee drinkers in the world, beating the next country in this ranking, Finland, by 31% according to Euromonitor #2-Bridges Amsterdam alone has 1281 bridges, which is more than three times as many as venice, which has only 378. If you were to cross ONE bridge in Amsterdam a day, it would take you 3.5 years. #3-Oldest Anthem The Netherlands has the world’s oldest national anthem: “Het Wilhelmus” dates back to the 16th century, written somewhere between 1560 and 1580 #4-Cannabis While common thinking says that softdrugs in The Netherlands are legal, they are not. The law however, tolerates the use and sale of the drugs, but with strict regulations. It is not allowed to use softdrugs like cannabis when a person is under 18 years old, and a person may carry a maximum of 5 grams. #5-Leasing graves In the Netherlands there is a big lack of grave spaces. This is why you can’t buy one, you can normally only lease them for 5, 10, or 20 years. #6-Same sex marriage In 2001 the Netherlands became the first country that legalized the same sex marriage. This spawned a growing trend of other countries accepting this type of marriage. #7-Herring The Dutch consume tons of herring. Combined, the Dutch consume around 12 thousand metric tonnes of the fish. It’s often considered to be their national food. #8-Country of the Bicycle The Netherlands is sometimes also reffered to as the country of the bicycle, as there are more bicycles than people in the Netherlands. On average every Dutch citizen has 1,3 bikes. #9-Tulips are not Dutch Despite common belief, Tulips don’t originate from the Netherlands. They were imported from Turkey in the 16th century. Between 1634 and 1637, there was such enthousiasm for tulips, known as Tulip Mania, the flowers bulbs became so expensive they were even used as a form of currency. #10-Heineken The Dutch beer producer Heineken is one of the world’s largest, having a yearly production of 171,7 million hectoliters, or 17,17 million cubic meters, enough to fill 6868 olympic-sized swimming pools!